


Peacetime confusions (or the troubles of a royal assassin)

by Bolded



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-22
Updated: 2019-10-28
Packaged: 2020-10-26 08:03:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20738933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bolded/pseuds/Bolded
Summary: She observes the flowers and groan, only now noticing how truly withered they were.Making things actually live was more complicated than she thought. (Post-Conquest).





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my Fire Emblem Fates fanfiction, featuring Beruka and Corrin's lives in a Post-Conquest Nohr.
> 
> Any reviews or critics are very much appreciated, but more than anything, I hope you'll enjoy the story !

She observes the flowers and groan, only now noticing how withered they truly were.

Beruka only recently entered the business of making things live.

It has been one year since the end of the great Continental War with Hoshido.

The demise of "King Garon", ultimately revealed to be naught but a mud construct of sort, and the ultimate defeat of Hoshido led to an initial period of unrest and troubles, but peace eventually came. Or, rather, a wary, temporary peace settled.

Following the end of the war, the main group disbanded. Most of the Royals came back to the capital, with the sole exception of Corrin. The "traitor prince" did go back to Krakenburg, but only for the celebration and to witness his brother's ascent to the throne. After the ceremony, the blue-haired man promptly retreated to a small house, close to the edge of a small town near the capital, being accompanied by his wife.

A few people were surprised by his decision, wondering why Corrin would give up on the castle and live in quasi-solitude in the countryside, but Beruka understood his decision. And was sort of content with the matter. Living in the castle meant living with Lady Camilla, and for all her skills, all her grace, and all her beauty, the elder princess was still a little bit too emotional whenever the two lovers were in sight.

Furthermore, the life of a princess was not one that she desired. She was much more content with living in relative isolation. Her status and presence in the castle would mean that she would need to interact with a lot of persons. And while she was not shy, she unfortunately found herself involved in plenty of awkward situations during her brief stay in the capital, often engaging in long silences during her attempts at interactions with the servants.

Around Corrin, and perhaps a few lucky chosen, she felt much more natural, and smiles or other emotions came to her more easily. It helped that they were recently informed of something that, according to the books she read, should be met with immense joy from the two veterans.

Beruka was pregnant. Soon, another member of the royal bloodlines will lay their eyes upon the land that they rule upon.

"Did I ever tell you that it's weird to see you like this ? No armour, no weapons, and…"

Beruka's right hand silently moved over to a yellow pillow and lifted it gently, partly revealing a dagger. Selena's eyes moved over to it in surprise, and she folded her arms.

"Why am I not surprised ?"

"It is a common habit of mine."

Not one that she used too much, however. Weapons that are left lying can be picked up and used by others just as easily after all. And she will definitely drop such a habit after the birth of the baby, since it could be dangerous. Her own "father" has less remorse about it though, often leaving out some painful (but not fatal) traps around their hideouts. She'd learn to be wary even within seemingly safe space.

This apparently was not normal.

Briefly, she thought of it. The task of parenthood was unlike any another. The young woman was skilled at what she does, but raising a child and giving them the tools to thrive was different.

The sound of snapping fingers takes her out of her little pondering, and the wyvern lord's sharp eyes turn upon Selena once more.

"Apologies."

"You should be taking this talk more seriously." Said Selena. "I mean, the last time we ever saw one another was… one year ago, right ? You'd think we'd have more to talk about !"

"You knew where I lived all this time. It is not that far from the castle."

"Yeah, but… I had to take care of some stuff. Couldn't even take a breather after the war and-"

"Be more precise."

"It's nothing really exciting."

"It could provide us with some of this "talk", Selena." Answered Beruka. She was curious, admittedly, but Selena was always a rather… secretive one, to the point where the assassin attempted to follow her a few times. To her great surprise, however, Selena was scarily good at covering her tracks, easily escaping the sight of the blue-haired killer even when the latter was actually focusing.

This did nothing to appease Beruka's worries, but Lady Camilla dismissed her reservations.

"Well, it was less exciting than… the pregnancy ! Yeah, how did you react !"

A silence began to settle.

"Corrin fainted." She admitted.

"Huh ? That's a funny image. The "Hero of Nohr" knocked off his feet by the news of his fatherhood."

Beruka's eye twitched ever so slightly. So slightly that Selena did not even notice, and she stared at the spot next to her.

Corrin would not have reacted well to the designation, not at all. He would've tried to act as if it was no big deal in front of his wife and her friend, perhaps, but he would've spent the rest of the day sulking. And Beruka hated it, for, very much like parenting, she was not trained to really console others. She did try, of course, but he merely put on a bigger smile, and she knew that it did not really help.

Her powerlessness frustrated her. She loved Corrin, in spite of some of his flaws, and her inability to drag her out of his funk was a failure on her part. She tried to "secretly" summon some friends to the house to cheer him up, even the ones that she did not particularly like.

Selena, however, was not invited : She left a year ago, had some sightings around the country, and then knocked at their doorstep one hour ago.

"And how did you react ?"

"I was surprised, then relieved. However, as of right now, I feel tension. My assumption is that I am wondering if I can provide… happiness to my child, and this cause me to be stressed."

"Seems about right. Hey, where's Corrin then ? He should be helping you out ! It's already bad enough that he's not even here…"

The dragon prince left the house, about once per month. The assassin knew that he wanted to be left alone, but still secretly followed him, admittedly curious.

However, he merely sat down in front of the nearby lake, and contemplated the sky or the water for about two hours before leaving. Odd.

Beruka knew that Corrin was a little different after the war. All of them were, of course, but while he was still kind and easy-going, having to battle the denizens of Hoshido, and his own biological brothers, took its toll on him. The young woman proposed, multiple times, to handle the matter hersell or allow his siblings to do it, but fate forced him to fight Ryoma, and fate dragged a half-dead, screaming Takumi for a final battle of sort.

The assassin saw plenty of sights the likes of which would forever impact a lesser person, and learnt to grow used to them. But the sight of a screaming Takumi mowing down her prince came back to her, sometimes, in her nightmares. And in those, he never miraculously got back up.

He blamed himself for it all. For the demises of so many innocent Hoshidians, for the destruction of the country, for the numerous acts of depravity that he was powerless to stop, maybe even for the mysterious vanishing of Azura. And that was, perhaps, the root of all his troubles.

"Corrin is very troubled because of what happened to him."

To Beruka's relief, Selena's eyes grew softer.

"Yeah…. I understand. How do you deal with it ?"

"…"

Selena bite her lips. Beruka awkwardly tried to shift her position. Both women were at an impasse.

"Well, I wanted to see him because… I'm going back home after this, and at least I wanted to see how the main couple was holding up."

"Home ?" she said, ignoring her other comment.

"Yeah, well, probably shouldn't drop it this easily but…"

"I knew it all along." Said Beruka.

"I figured. I'm thankful that you stuck to stalking instead of trying to skewer me in my sleep, though."

"You proved your loyalty. And I could not waste my time following you all day or night. I eventually decided to trust you."

"Right."

An opportunity sprung in Beruka's mind : Defuse the situation with humor.

It

"But now that you confirmed it, I must act now and eliminate you, in the name of Nohr, before you spill any secrets."

Beruka tried to smile as widely as she could, but after three seconds, found herself confusedly staring at a half-surprised half-frightened Selena. The redhead was seemingly mistaking her joke for a real threat.

The former retainer's smile dropped, going back to her usual poker face.

"This was said with humor in mind, Selena."

"Yeah but… sheesh, you and Lady Camilla, I just never know where you're joking or actually being serious !"

"I am… facetious. However, I can assure you that Lady Camilla will be serious."

"And, and… you making a joke is pretty surreal, seriously !"

"Is it bad ?"

"No ! But…it's pretty creepy." Admitted Selena. "But it's good to see you being this casual, you know ?"

"Elaborate."

"Hey, I've said it before ! No armor."

Beruka stared at her current clothing, of humble fabrication. Her shirt, pants and boots made her feel… weak in a way. Her armour's purpose was to shield her after all, and even when sneaking, she tried to put on some protection. But alas, such was the peril of pregnancy.

"No… forget it."

"Yes."

"And, well, you're technically a princess."

"Yes."

Selena sighed and got up, dusting herself off.

"I don't think I'll be able to come back, so… erm, before I leave. I wanna say that I truly appreciated working with you."

Beruka got up, but responded with a simple raise of her eyebrow.

"You, Lady Camilla and the others may be a crazy bunch, but you're all quite endearing in your own ways. And I have experience with such groups, believe me !"

In answer, the blue-haired assassin checked her pocket, causing Selena to tilt her head slightly. The redhead tensed when she pulled out a "kunai", but the pregnant woman merely gave it to the retainer.

"I looted it off a ninja. If we are to part ways forever, then hold on to this until you die."

"W-hey ! You're giving me a dead guy's knife ?"

"Yes. See this as a token of trust. I am giving you a weapon and excepting you not to slash my throat and stab my eyes."

"Hurgh, even when handing out gifts, you're making it all special !" she huffed. "You know, I always feel weird about being handed gifts too. I always feel like I've got to give one right back."

"The purpose of a gift is to be handed over without excepting payment in return."

"Yeah but… heh, alright, get this."

Serena checked a not-so-small bag tied to her shoulder, and pulled a book out, handing it over to her.

"It's… a book about weapons. You're lucky I bought one before coming here ! You could read it…"

"And use it to provide education to my child, yes."

"Yeah, y-hey, that's pretty illegal !"

Beruka tilted her head, and escorted Selena to her door. Before departing, however, the taller woman leaned in and, of all things, hugged her former co-worker. In answer, the assassin awkwardly wrapped her arms around her back and patted her a little.

The woman was quick to step back, though. Her face was a bit red, and Beruka felt a tinge of sadness.

"… See ya around, Beruka." Said Selena, before quickly turning around, and walking off.

"… See you." Answered her interlocutor. She observed Selena a bit, and then went back in, closing the door and sitting down.

Corrin arrived home a few minutes later.


	2. Of nightmares and bed cover.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Corrin get home, stuff get complicated at night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there ! Hope you'll enjoy the chapter !

Beruka brought the watering can over and sat down, setting down a gardening book next to her.

Taking up the device, she shook it a little and fed the flowers with the water. According to Corrin, this should help them grow.

And yet, they remained dead, for now.

…

Corrin leaned forward and Beruka wrapped her arms around his neck, while he put his around her own back, kissing each other for a second before letting go and walking back.

They were never quite the "physical" couple like Arthur and Effie. Beruka was not really a cuddly person after all, and Corrin himself was quite shy and not really into such grand romantic gestures. A few quiet kisses here and there, perhaps some hand-holding, cuddles when they felt bold, but never anything more. It was even worse in public, which is why they moved away from the castle.

She did try to be more forthcoming now, to attempt to appease him whenever he felt stressed or had one of his moments. However, her limited experience in such matters meant that she usually made things more awkward, to her regret.

Corrin was quite tall, enough to outright tower over his wife, and was quite lean but deceptively fit, with something of a muscular build because of his wartime experience and draconic features. He has bright blue hair, with two longer bangs on each side of his forehead. He had sharp red eyes, making him look intimidating at first glance (to his regret) and recently acquired some pockets beneath his eyes.

Unlike her, he's been wearing his white armour all-day now. It was a step-up from early into the year, when he somehow decided to wear his enormous great knight get-up. At least the white armour was far less cumbersome, and she could at least understand why he'd try to wear some protection.

"I met Selena on the way home." He said, engaging the conversation. She saw that he put down a bag of some sort shortly before the hug, her eyes quietly analysing the container before she turned them towards her husband.

"Good. She expressed frustration over your…"

"Absence ? I understand. I was shopping and, you know, I always get really hesitant about what to buy."

He was a poor liar.

But at least, he was telling the truth about Selena. In spite of her difficulties at socializing, Beruka was good at picking up social clues and when someone was lying or not. She recognized the shifty eyes, the brief wavers in tone, the hesitation, body language… the Assassin knew how it worked, if only out of necessity for her job.

And obviously, he had no way to know that Selena was there beforehand, so his mention was true. Though she was surprised that he only needed a few minutes to talk with her. More than surprised, the assassin was also worried about Selena dropping his title during the conversation or unwittingly pressing his buttons during their conversation.

"False."

"W-why ?"

"It only took you a few minutes." She said, with a smirk. Beruka was quite pleased when Corrin answered with a brief chuckle, glad that this attempt at humor worked out for he, and also glad that he was laughing for once.

"We were never too… close during the war. She scolded me for nearly missing her, told me about the knife you gave her, congratulated me about the baby and then said that she had to go."

He walked into the kitchen slash dining room. It stood very close to the entrance, to the left of the draconic prince. On the right, there was the living room. The hallway in front of them had the stairs, leading to the house's first floor. The door at the end of said hallway, past the stairs, led to the garden behind the house.

Though, very much like their home, the garden was very… modest. The couple could hardly take care of the flowers back there, to their frustration. Corrin could very easily acquire a far grander house, but didn't, out of modesty or simply because the best houses were located in cities. Camilla proposed the acquirement of some Hoshidian flowers, but Beruka refused.

The first floor had their bedroom, and some more rooms for the guests. Corrin was in the process of trying to make a "very special" place in the house for the baby, but found himself struggling with the task, though he denied any help. The rest of the rooms were mostly toilets and the likes, with nothing special.

The assassin sat down in the living room and awaited her husband, observing him as he sat down.

"Yes, this seems likely."

"She's going back home apparently too, I hope you're not minding it too much."

"Why would I ?"

"Well, you worked together, and you grew pretty close over the course of the war."

"Perhaps, but life has many paths. If we must separate, than it is useless for me to attempt to hold on to her. We have our ways, and we must take them."

"Yeah… you're right." He admitted. "You think Laslow and Odin…"

"They must be going home as well. All three were quite evasive about their origins, after all, and appeared at about the same time."

"I'm going to miss Odin. He was pretty fun, wasn't he ? I liked his… style."

"I found it utterly obnoxious."

Corrin deflated, and Beruka's eyes briefly widened.

"… But it was amusing at times, yes."

"Yeah !" he admitted, smiling cheekily. "I wish I could be more like him sometimes. I've always been a little, errr, in the background."

"You were on the frontlines often, and King Xander himself saw you as the leader of the group back then." She corrected him.

"You're right." He admitted. "But he's more charismatic than I am. If it were me, rising to the throne, I would've been unable to gather myself like he did."

Corrin was never one to really give himself credits. Beruka preferred such "modesty" over a gigantic ego, but at times, he was seemingly eager to put himself down at times, in a manner that disturbed even her.

And unfortunately, she was not that good at giving pep talks. Though luckily, she felt that she was better at handing those out to her husband. If, say, Niles ever had similar ego issues one day (impossible at it sound), she would probably be completely unable to assist him.

"Corrin. You've risen to tougher challenges. You would certainly be able to produce a better speech than King Xander, with all due respect to his majesty."

"Xander is not one to get upset over that, don't worry." He assured. "And beside, it's not like he could hear us, right ? It's not like he's going to… fly over to our house and arrest us over it."

He pointed to the window and made a sweeping gesture with his arm. Beruka smiled slightly in answer, in spite of herself.

…

She could've described the colour of the sky in great detail, and how the orange light bathed the world in its splendid light… but as usual, the sun was all but buried beneath a gigantic black cloud, making it impossible to see the night sky as anything else than a black, foggy mass.

And the sun would only shine upon a land of gnarled trees, hostile mountains and desolate roads. Nohr was much better off with the recent trades, but it was still less fertile than Hoshido by a lot. Beruka saw the other land with her own eyes, and could confirm it : the land is brimming with life there. The grass was green and not struggling to pierce through the ground. The lakes were large, wildlife was abundant, the Hoshidians had to dedicate whole buildings to house food too.

This is probably the reason why many Nohrians went ahead to live in it after the war, with Hinoka expressing heavy reluctance but allowing it anyway. Beruka did not mind living in Nohr, though. She knew that Corrin would not want to go back to Hoshido, after all, and did feel a bit of pride about staying in her homeland. Beside, living in the other country would lead to attacks by vengeful, disgruntled soldiers, and the officials would probably be willing to look the other way.

Beruka went back inside, and leaned on the doorway, observing Corrin as he cooked. He seemingly did go ahead and buy some food for them, being in the process of making some meat stew. She was aware that the average Nohrian family dynamic would see her in the kitchen, but her husband was more likely to sulk when left to his own devices, and cooking always provided him with a distraction.

He took it up during the war, often stepping in whenever Keaton offered to make a meal. The prince was a surprisingly good cook, to the surprise of all but his siblings and butlers. Beruka herself was decent, but a bit too generous with the salt according to some people, so she was content with letting him handle things, and merely helped to put the plates and cutlery on the table.

"Errr, there are some legumes in there, and… pork meat." Said Corrin, to attempt to break the silence. "It's good for pregnant women apparently."

"How mindful of you." She answered, sitting down. "How was your day ?"

"Not much." He said. "I tried to take care of the flowers but..."

"Do not worry. I failed too."

"It's hard to really grow them on this soil apparently."

"Indeed." She said, finding the lack of topic awkward. "I polished my weapons."

"You're not taking any contracts, right ?" he said, his eyes widening in surprise. It took some convincing, but Beruka was able to still get some targets, from time to time, though she only ever went against "evil people". Of course, such people were complicated to find, even in Nohr. Garon was but a puppet, and people like Hans and Iago were part of a (thankfully) rare breed of sociopath, for the world was greyer than her husband envisioned.

However, her pregnancy forced her to temporarily retire for now, and she refused to leave Corrin alone. She wasn't fearful of Corrin attempting to perform any harm on himself, but she knew that he cared about her, and would be worried sick about her, which would add even more stress to his day.

"No. But I do not want them to rust, and tending to weapons is easier than tending to flowers."

"That's… good." He said. "Sorry, I know that I can't be too invasive."

"Your concern is understandable." She admitted. Corrin looked down on the meal and smiled, preparing to bring the cooking pot over to the table.

"Anyway. Let's just sit down and eat. I put some more effort, so this meal is going to be something to die…"

He froze mid-sentence, and Beruka nearly leapt off her chair, grabbing it in his stead while he stood there. In his defence, he was quick to shake that one episode off, his eyes soon re-focusing back on her, in clear horror at what happened. For her part, the (technical) princess put the cooking pot down on the table and helped Corrin sit down, putting her hands on his arm and helping him.

"Sorry, I…. I said without meaning to."

"It happens." She said. Yes. It happened, over a meal. Years of shutting down her emotions did little wonders for her social abilities, but at least, she was able to hide her fear, confusion and panic behind a façade of nonchalance. Anger, too, for not properly supporting him.

More than anything, the former assassin wanted to support him. Ask him to open up. Get him to spill everything out. But yet, she found herself… unable to, as if she feared that doing so would break him. This was nonsensical for the blue-haired woman, who, at a tender age, had more blood on her hands than the average soldier, but this was a different situation for her.

They would need to talk about it tonight.

"… Let's just enjoy our meal."

Beruka silently agreed, and they both sat down and began to eat. At least, the food was really good, to the point where he only had another serving and pretty much handed the rest over to her.

The baby seemed to approve.

….

Beruka found herself back in the Hoshidian castle, hiding behind a stone wall, axe in hand. The other hand was currently wrapped around a dead soldier's neck, though she was quick to let go of the body as it started to dissolve into nothing.

"DIE !"

Something break, akin to a thunderclap, and a gigantic yellow projectile goes off, tearing through any obstacle on its way. Possessed generals, for all their mighty defences, were effortlessly split in two. The stone walls were constantly getting demolished. Any manner of magical defence raised beforehand was useless, being reduced to dust within seconds.

The purple arrow's short yet destructive journey comes at an end when it pierces through the castle's wall and flies off into the horizon. A dark mages rise from behind cover, tome raised, thinking that he could exploit the archer's fire rate to his advantage.

"NO !" yells his companion, a Paladin deprived of his horse. But alas, he's too late : The second archer let loose a mighty arrow and promptly kill the mage with a clean headshot.

Takumi's reflection began to materialize a new arrow, while the "real" one raised yet another hellish projectile, firing it yet again. The corrupted prince was moving around incoherently, moving with the grace of a puppet tied to strings, but yet, the sheer power and speed of his arrows were enough to stalemate the Nohrian army !

The presence of corrupted soldiers made the whole thing much harder. Only Xander and Camilla were capable of vaguely keeping up with the possessed prince, pushing him back and buying time for their soldiers to recover.

"Beruka !" warns Niles, from another cover. The situation was bad enough to get the rogue to drop his usual smarmy manners. "You have to let go !"

Beruka turned around, staring at a dead Corrin, slumped over next to her. He had a giant hole on his side, and her eyes were glazed over, but yet, she kept excepting him to rise and summon a new aspect of Yato's power. She knew, in her heart, that he was not dead.

"Beru-"

The thunderclap resumes again, and Niles is outright pulverized along with the cover he was using, with the assassin facing nothing but debris and smoke in his stead… but, much more eerily, she also found herself facing the Hoshidian prince.

In life, Takumi was never an agreeable sight, especially because of how effective he was against her. But the prince, in spite of his suicide weeks ago, was back on his feet.

But he was not alive. She could tell it from the way he stood, or the tears in his clothing, or the liquid oozing out of his wounds, akin to water of some sort. A violent purple aura surrounded him, and his eyes bore into hers. They were all white, but she was just close enough to perceive two thin, tiny purple pupils, flaring with hatred.

He screamed, in a mix of agony and pure anger, and prepared an arrow…

And Beruka woke up.

The assassin quietly opened her eyes, finding herself at home once more, breathing at heavier pace than she wanted to admit. Instinctively, she looked to her right and briefly looked surprised when red eyes stared back at her, revealing the Nohrian prince, wrapped in the bed cover, in a manner akin to a caterpillar.

"You were having a nightmare, so I thought to wake you…"

"… What are you doing ?"

Corrin stared at her, then at the cover, then back at her and sighed.

"Sorry, it's… cold. Yeah."

"It is." She admitted, looking down at the heavy blue dress she was using at nightwear. "I require more cover, husband."

"Yeah, but…"

She knew that she needed no convincing : Corrin sighed, and unfurled the cover, handing part of it over to her. Instead of going back to sleep, however, she stared at him (but not before putting the cover on her for warmth).

"Is there anything I could…"

"You were having a nightmare too, right ?" she said, trying not to point out that he was wearing part of his armor. One problem at a time.

"No, I was just…"

She stared once more, and he sighed.

"Yeah…"

"I see…"

Corrin always had trouble sleeping. During the war, it was out of stress, and because of the looming threats of assassins. After the war, it was because of the nightmares and his general anxiety. It wasn't rare for her to wake up and find him either doing something already or barely asleep.

She sighed and sat up, crossing her leg and staring at him.

"We need to talk about it."

"My nightmares ?"

"The source of it. Your anxiety. What is currently troubling you."

He sighed and also sat up. Had she been told, one year ago, that she'd share a bed with the mysterious young prince of Nohr and invite him to, openly, talk about what was troubling him, she would've probably dismissed it as some kind of prank.

And yet, here she was.

"I… I really can't, there so much…"

"I have time."

"Well there's… everything. From… from the very start, when I joined Nohr, to the end of the war. I mean…"

He inspired, and she dared to pat him in the back. She had to get him to open up.

"There's… all the deaths. Be it the enemy soldiers or ours. I… I know that it's war, but all those people are their dreams and hopes, and I just… squashed them."

She nodded.

"The Rainbow Sage dying by my hands, too… then Takumi's attack. But Hans's slaughter at Cheve was the worst ! I could have stopped it but I was too weak ! I couldn't stand up to Hans physically, and my authority as a prince led to nothing ! Just… him and Iago, they were the worst. So many massacres on their part, on my watch, and I did nothing !"

"You would've been killed by Garon."

"Then so be it. My life isn't worth an entire village."

"… Please continue."

"There's my stupid plan to kill Garon too. Let him sit down on the throne ? And slaughter his way through Hoshido ? What kind of tactic was that ?" he asked, his frustration growing with each word.

"That was her decision."

The singer's name was forbidden under this roof, if only because her vanishing haunted Corrin the most. He could understand the death of Lilith, or his companions, or even his enemies, but Azura's mysterious vanishing gave Corrin hope, in a way. Hope that Azura would come back. At this point, everyone but him figured that she was dead, but he was still willing to entertain that one hope.

But deep down, he knew too.

"No, Azura was… we were in a difficult situation, but still, I should've tried to fight Garon or even try a coup… it would've failed but…"

"No one would've been able to stand up to him if you chose to plot a coup. The plan was not a bright one." She had to admit to him. "But you had no other options. And it was not your initial plan, right ?"

"Y-yeah…"

"He tricked you and forced you to march into war." She said, getting closer between each sentence. "You were in a situation where you had little option, and took one that would work, desperate as it was."

She wrapped her arms around his waist and torso and pulled him close. Such displays of affection were, once more, uncommon from her, but she aspired to help him. At least, perhaps he'd realize that she was serious.

"Lilith died…"

"She sacrificed herself so you could live on." She said, attempting not to sound cheesy. Beruka would not speak like this if she could, but she was trying to pull him out of his funk, after all.

Corrin resumed.

"I don't think Sakura's managed to recover from what she saw in the fort but… Ryoma." He said. "He was in the right."

She half-agreed. The prince was quite willing to let the young Nohrian princess, Elise, die after all. She could at least approve his ruthlessness, though she disliked how the Hoshidian prince tried to act with "honor" when he was willing to adopt such tactics. At least she was upfront on her intentions in the end.

"Well, not always." He admitted. "But in the end, he died to protect his people and… me. After all the pain I caused to Hoshido, he still tried to look out for me…"

He did not mention the death of Hans and Iago, nor their soldiers. He did seems to have his mind set on that one matter at least.

"Garon died and then… Takumi;"

Instinctively, he tried to put his hands on his stomach, where he was shot, but she grabbed his hand and kept it in her hand.

"I know."

"In the end… I think it wasn't him. It was something else. But… but in the end, I did tear the country apart, so…"

"Takumi was nothing but a shell of himself, Corrin. He scares me too, but he's dead for good. You defeated the evil that took control of him. You are worthy of the sword of legend."

She cupped her hand on his cheek and awaited a little, noticing that he was slightly calming down.

"We are going to visit your family soon." She said. "They may cure you of your problem, or find someone who can."

"We'd need to get back to the capital…"

"Indeed."

"But wouldn't that bother you ?"

"It won't, do not worry."

She began to lay down on the bed, still holding him, and kept him close, observing the ceiling.

"You are well worth any trouble that I might have in the capital, Corrin. You provided me with aid, and I shall now do the same to you." she said, trying to put in as much energy as she could in her voice.

He stared at her a little, and his lips briefly quivered. Briefly, she thought that she made him sad, somehow, but he eventually pulled through and smiled wirily.

"I don't want to bother you…"

"You only ever do when you refuse my help."

He sighed and eventually closed his eyes.

"Alright, I'll send a message to Xander, and we'll see if they have anything to help us… but still, wouldn't it be bothering them ?"

"Lady Camilla and the others were willing to disobey Garon to help you. They may be busy, but they will certainly make time for you. Please, rest, and stop thinking that you are bothering anyone."

He nodded, and closed his eyes, eventually going to sleep. Beruka briefly thought about the situation, and how he still seemed… unwell in his sleep, sometimes stirring or twitching. The idea that her husband was facing adversity, and that all of her efforts were for naught, terrified and frustrated her at the same time.

But in the end, they'll pull through, right ?

She went to sleep, but saw the need to repeat that over and over in her head beforehand. They'll pull through.


	3. Of pigeons and letters.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy ! Don't forget to leave reviews and the like !

The flowers' struggle for survival was a thing of beauty. Multiple times, Beruka found herself actually a little interested in the plant and their effort to push through and emerge out of the harsh Nohrian soil.

Their battle for the surface was but a prelude for another one, however : The acquisition of precious, precious sunlight, all but lost in some parts of the country. The way some of the Nohrian florae adapted to the challenge was pretty puzzling for foreign visitors, but the people of the "violent country" were proud of the bizarre shape of the vegetation.

It represented them. The vegetation of Nohr adapted to the bizarre landscape of the country and stood its ground, like how they were hardened by a life within the land that "the sun itself was scared of".

"We should make it formal." Said Corrin.

"You are the King's adopted brother, Corrin, and you have earned Xander's respect."

"Yes but... it feels disrespectful, you know ? Xander worked hard for his position, we can't exactly treat him like an old buddy."

"You are more than that. You are his fellow warrior. A Nohrian hero. And his… "little prince"." Said Beruka, closing her eyes at the last sentence. He smiled briefly at it, but she kept her cool.

The goal of the "mission" was to raise Corrin's self-esteem, and helping him realize his worth was part of that. Yes, he probably shouldn't be too familiar with the king in public, but it wasn't hard to see that the entire royal family loved him dearly. If she could realize it, then surely Corrin would also be able to make sense of it.

For all his talent and kindness, he was pretty bad at noticing social clues or picking up on manipulations. Azura, his siblings and Beruka herself took care of it during the war, and he got better at it, but even now, he had trouble figuring out when someone wanted something out of him, for an instance.

Right now, the couple was standing in the living room, attempting to write a letter. Her husband was unsure on how to really write the letter, and the assassin lacked the soul of a writer, being used to small, curt messages instead of the drawn out quasi-poems that were excepted out of two members of the royal family.

"To the King of Nohr, and dear brother… We would like to inform you that our life has taken a dark path."

"No, this sound dangerous. The King must not think that we are in peril."

"Yeah. A bit too Odin. Erm, To the King of Nohr, and dear brother… Everything is going well, but I am finding myself in an awkward spot in relation to my mental health."

He turned around and stared up at Beruka, almost hopeful. She tilted her head to the side and folded her arms.

"Perhaps… I am finding myself in a position where I may need your assistance. Though I assure you that my life is not in danger."

"Good one ! Thank you Beruka !"

"I could write the rest for you." Offered Beruka. "If you do not want to talk about it…"

"No need, I'm fine." He said, writing down on the paper. Beruka observed his handwriting, attempting to see if it'd waver or change. Luckily enough, it didn't, even at the part where he was asking for help. She contemplated putting her hand on his, but thought that it might surprise him and refrained from doing so.

"How m-much should I describe ?" declared Corrin, attempting to brush over his little stutter.

"They will understand." She answered. "No need to go into descriptions."

Sending a letter was perhaps a bit too "much", but the duo needed to prepare a little for the trip to the capital (as short as the road was), and it was polite to warn the King instead of bursting in. And it could be a way to test the water and see if the ruler of Nohr was available to help or would be too busy.

Corrin wrote a short little explanation, detailing his problems without going into too much detail. He did quiver at times, but managed to at least finish the letter, carefully putting it in the envelope. The prince got up and stood there for a few seconds, attempting to say something.

"I'll go to the pigeon post."

"Let's go together." She said. Beruka knew that he was going to bring the letter, just like how she knew that he was going to go to the lake. And she felt that such an activity was having a negative effect on his psyche.

"You don't need to bother…"

"I will always bother, if it's for you." She said. He stood there in silence and, to her surprise, his lips quivered once more. In a flash, her husband dropped his letter and embraced her, to her surprise. After realizing that he was engaging in a "hug", she raised her arms and wrapped them around his back.

They spent about a minute like this before he backed off and bent down, grabbing the envelope and smiling briefly.

"I'm… sorry. I was just a bit glad."

"I do not blame you. It was… agreeable." She admitted, still reeling herself. This is probably why she was fond of the young man : unlike most of her associates, he was very straightforward (issues about his war experiences aside) and sweet, whereas most Nohrians tended to be… edgier. It was not her primary reasons, for falling in love with a man because of his niceness is a shallow thing, but at the very least, it was a quality that he had.

"So, let's go the pigeon post." He said, after a few more moments of hesitation.

"Yes."

…

The trip to the pigeon post would've been a far easier one had Beruka kept her wyvern, or Corrin his horse… but unfortunately enough, taking care of such animals was complicated enough and they were both looking for a house to settle in quickly. Thus, they left them to other caretakers.

The couple was walking down the path leading to their home, and experiencing the schizophrenic vegetation of Nohr. One side of the paved roads led to a forest of twisted trees, somewhat similar to the Woods of Forlorn, but far less dangerous. The other side was mostly barren, with the grass barely managing to fight its way out of the soil.

The sky in front of them was dark, as always, causing the walk to be a rather depressive one. Beruka didn't mind, but Corrin did, judging by the way he stared at either the forest or the near-wasteland and sighed or shook his head.

"My love." Said Beruka, heroically trying not to sound awkward. She was still getting used to the whole "nickname" side of love.

"Yes ?"

"Allow me to ask : Are you not confortable with the Nohrian countryside ?"

"Hm…"

She stared at him, hoping that he would not try to lie to make her feel better. Luckily, he seemed to realize this.

"Yeah, a bit. It's really… oppressive ?"

"Define, please."

He looked around, hoping to avoid offending any nearby Nohrian, and then spoke up.

"Well, it's… a country that suffered, right ?"

"Correct. Before the birth of King Garon, Nohr was invaded by a country beyond the sea." Said Beruka. "They were pushed back by a coalition but poisoned the land as a revenge. It is recovering even to this day."

"It must have been a terrible war, if the land itself is still scarred after all those years. Do you think that.."

Beruka wrapped her arm around is and tugged a little, though she cursed herself for her lack of hindsight.

"Right… anyway, yeah, I… I wanted to just enjoy peace and quiet, but with the baby coming…"

It was Beruka's time to briefly waver in her walk, to Corrin's immediate surprise. To his credit though, he did not panic immediately, stopping short and attempting to prevent any fall. Luckily enough, however, her little shock was merely surprise, and thus, there was no need for him to catch her.

"Beruka, are you alright ?"

"Yes." She said. "Worry not, I was merely…surprised."

Earlier on, she had admitted to Selena that she felt tension over the baby. It was a lie.

She was terrified.

Beruka, at her core, did not consider herself to be a good person. She accepted what she did, and what she was about to do, but she knew better than to delude herself. The former retainer was a killer, and while she certainly improved in terms of capacity for affection, she still had access to her deadly skills, and had the willingness to use them in the future, be it for money or to protect her family.

But those skills made her unsuitable for raising a child. How could she teach them to care about life when she never truly had any respect for it ? How would she guide them down a respectable path when she took a pretty dark one herself ?

Corrin had done mistakes, too. Many considered him a kinslayer, and his decisions were forever going to haunt him. But at least, at his core, he was a good person. She was not, and she was afraid that this would impact the prince(ss)'s growth, and potentially turn them into another one of her.

But somehow, she never truly confronted Corrin about the idea. Part of her felt like it was just more stress for him, and another felt that her anxiety was natural for a future mother, and that she would rise above the challenge in the end. But in the end, she knew that those were mere reassurance.

"A bit too late to be surprised about the child." He said.

"I am aware. I am merely… thinking that it would perhaps be wise to leave within the next months then. Travelling through the continent with an infant will be harduous, after all."

"We could always just go live in the capital. It's much safer, and we could keep an eye on the child… well, I know you don't like it very much though, so…"

Windmire has been, according to reports, a much safer place since the ascent of King Xander, but she knew the city better than Corrin did, and was not too sure on living within it.

"… Perhaps we should ponder about it later. Behold." She said, pointing to the pigeon post. A small shack, barely clean enough to function, but not visited enough to get cleaned up often by the owner. No one else was there, allowing the couple to easily enter the place.

The clerk in place had long, brown curly hair and wasn't even wearing his uniform, being content with wearing a red vest, a white shirt and a black pair of pants. Upon noticing the newcomers, he actually briefly widened his eyes in surprise and then frowned in annoyance.

"Hello. Where would you like your letter to be sent ?"

"To Windmire. I wish to send this to the king."

"Right, riiiigghtt, the king will read this. Hand it over."

Beruka observed the post and frowned, refraining herself from touching anything, out of fear that doing so would reduce the place to dust. She was probably exaggerating, but for one such as her, this place was nothing short of an utter wreck.

Corrin, meanwhile, was all too eager to hand over the letter, seemingly not minding the shack. Then again, her husband would compliment the place even if it was burning around them, to avoid offending the clerk. Said clerk took the letter, looked at the royal seal, looked at Robin and nearly fell out of his chair, though Beruka dove to grab the letter in time.

"You ! You ! Lord Corrin ! I'm… I'm so sorry ! We don't get too many visitors !" he said, as Corrin chose to help him up. His wife, however, merely looked over at the man, glaring daggers at him. His display of incompetence made her sick, but she simply handed him the letter over.

"Pathetic." she thought.

"It's alright. You can call me Corrin, and this is my wife, Beruka."

"Hello."

"I'm sorry, Lo… Corrin ! I will not be an obstacle to your encounter with the king !" he said, dashing to the back of the shack without taking the money. The young prince laughed in answer, but Beruka rolled her eyes.

After a little while, the man came back, with a feather stuck in his hair.

"I sent the pigeon, it… it should come back soon enough, I'll bring you the letter once its done !"

"Don't worry, you're amongst friends here."

"Hm. Yes. Let us depart, Corrin." She said. Her husband did turn around but before leaving, he turned around and pointed.

"What's your name ?"

"Sebastian, sir !"

"Nice to meet you, Sebastian !"

…

"He was pretty funny, don't you think ?"

"And disrespectful. He only relented when he noticed your status as a noble."

"Yeah… it's too bad he was scared though. I'm not an especially intimidating guy, right ?"

"I am." She answered.

"Anyway, now that's done… we should pack up some of our stuff."

"Such as ? The castle will have everything that we'll need."

"Of course, but… Yato, for instance. It's not really something you leave behind."

She smiled a little when he mentioned Yato, a sword that he's come to associate with the war. It did not awake painful memories like anything else, but the prince was content with putting it away in a room, on a small pedestal. The leader from the wind tribe would surely scoff at the idea of the sword of legend receiving such treatment, and Beruka herself would prefer it to be more present.

Not out of any interest in the weapon itself, but because it was tied to Corrin's worth. It showed him that he was the hero of the dark, who persevered despite the setbacks and pain he faced. She was sure that, if he were to even lay his hands on it once more, than he'd find that his worth did not diminish.

And the fact that he specifically mentioned it showed that such a scenario was imminent.

Otherwise, she struggled to find anything to bring.

"A few gifts maybe ?"

"Right."

"And… well, it's just nice to see them all again."

"That is the plan."

"Especially Camilla. You must have a lot of stuff to say to each other, right ?"

"Less than you would think. I shall say hello. She shall reply with an enthusiastic reply. We will exchange "pleasantries." Then we shall separate. Simple."

"But you were her retainer for years, right ?" he asked. "The others are quite close to their own retainers too and Camilla is…"

"Affective ?"

"A bit too much. I… I mean, I get that she's always eager to… hug but we were kids back then. I'm a grown man now, it's… pretty embarrassing."

"Yes. But in her mind, you are still a child."

Corrin scratched the back of his head, perhaps hoping to drop the subject.

"You think that Camilla is going to fly over there as soon as she reads that letter ?"

"Certainly. You must remember how… she… flew to us seconds after learning about our wedding."

She was about to mention the war at the port, and how quickly Camilla manipulated things to get to the port, but it was still a touchy subject.

"She got so impatient, she jumped off her wyvern when it was still a few meters off the ground !"

"She would've squashed Arthur." Added Beruka. He smiled, but she didn't. Not out of worry for Arthur (who dodged at the last moment), but because the wedding was made out to be a quiet affaire, and Camilla single-handedly made a huge party out of it.

Not that she was holding a grudge over it, or found the princess annoying, but at times, she could be… overwhelming.

"I think that we should sleep early tonight. We'll get up early in the morning to prepare ourselves and get his letter."

"A wise decision. But beforehand, I'd require food."

"I'll get to to !" said Corrin, as they reached the house. "Don't worry, erm… darling." He said. "It'll all be fine."

She thought of the baby. Of Corrin's ever-looming trauma. Of their new home. Of their visit to the royal palace, bound to be rather quirky.

"… Yes."


	4. Of fancy clothes and pastry.

The flowers, alas, managed to overcome their first enemy, prodding out of the ground and taking on a twisted shape. The reward for their struggle was a short dose of sunrays, and some water, courtesy of their owner.

Those times were as merciful as they were short, however, for soon, the clouds overtook the sun once more, announcing that the fight for survival was about to begin once more.

.....

The streets of Windmire were silent once more. The buildings's windows were alight, but only one person was present, running desperately and clutching a wound on his shoulder.

Upon arriving at a building, the man slammed himself against the door, wincing and spraying more blood before attempting to open it.

"Let me in ! Please !" he said, though his cry for help fell in deaf ears. Realizing that he was not going to get in, he promptly turned around and froze, when he noticed that a woman was right in front of her.

Her lower face had a black mask covering it up, but he could see her red eyes, filled with malice. Her blue hair was cut in a short, asymmetrical manner, though it had one big bang close to her left eye. The woman had a black long-sleeved turtleneck shirt (with said turtleneck apparently being part of the mask), and a grey gi, with a red belt, black pants and black boots. Her skin was unnaturally pale, and pointy ears were visible, peeking through her bob.

Cornered, the man attempted to swing his fist at her, but the woman easily ducked beneath it and swiftly struck on her own, hitting him in the stomach with a punch and sending him flying through the door and into the entrance hall of the building. Miraculously enough, such force did not kill the man, though he was essentially defeated, laying on his back and whimpering amongst the shattered remains of the door.

The assassin then immediately leaped in the air, spun around a little, and landed foot-first on his face, crushing neck and head in a swift, lethal manner, shattering his skull and the ground below. She stood for a moment, and then looked up, noticing that her little deadly acrobatic act had a public.

A lethally curious family stood in the stairs of the building, observing the scene in horror. The blue-haired woman smiled in answer, with the outline of her mouth behind her mask forming a ghastly smile, and raised her hand, promptly transforming it into a draconic spear of some sort.

"I'm going to enjoy this."

She leapt forward, swung… and Beruka woke up, finding herself back in the bedroom, eyes opened in shock. After a little while, she allowed herself to rise, attempting to mask her fright. Luckily enough, Corrin was still fast asleep at her side, as indicated by his snoring.

She sighed. At the very least, he had a nice night.

Beruka was not one to have peaceful nights herself, though she accepted long ago that such was the price of a like like hers. Most of the time, though, they were of a more surreal nature, involving legions of the undead dragging her down for what she did. Her last nightmare, however, was much more coherent, and did not actually feature her.

She recognized the blue hair, though, and her sudden transformation near the end. She knew that it was her child, having taken a life similar to her mother's.

This is why this particular dream unsettled her in a manner that even the previous one failed to accomplish. In the end, the earlier nightmare was nothing but a dark creation of her mind. The Hoshidian prince was gone for real, the dark force possessing him had been defeated, and he ultimately failed to bring down the army, even if he left his mark on the fighters. Takumi was a thing of the past.

But her child was very much a thing of the future, and may very well walk down her path somewhere.

Looking to distract herself, Beruka peeked through the windows, barely pulling aside the curtains. One with less experience of Nohr would perhaps think "it's still night", but she recognized the sun rays barely peeking through the upward fog, and concluded that it was early in the morning. She should wake Corrin up, perhaps, but since he was actually sleeping, she thought of leaving him alone for a few more minutes.

Beruka got dressed and walked down the stairs. There wasn't much to pack up, and she did not feel like cooking. Out of habit, the assassin walked to the living room and grabbed her book about weapons, hoping to learn something, though she was sure that there wasn't much for her to discover about weapons.

Pregnancy, a year of peace and her current read, however, could not prevent Beruka from instinctively grabbing the hidden dagger on the couch as soon as she heard knocking on the door. She relaxed slightly, but then kept her hand on the weapon as she swiftly moved over to the door, partly hiding the blade in her sleeve through a little sleight of hand.

Upon reaching the door, Beruka only opened a small part of it, and kept her away from it, fearing that a blade may pass through the small gap as soon as it appeared.

"Errr, Lady Beruka, it's the letter for the pigeon ! From the King himself !"

She recognized the voice, but opened the door only slightly, quickly passing the blade from one hand to another.

"But…"

"The letter."

"Yes, but the door is…"

"Wide enough for the letter to pass through."

"Alright."

She got the envelope, and quickly took it away. Then, she bothered to grab some money on a nearby shelf, left by Corrin to pay the young man (he realized that they forgot to pay only after getting back home) and handed it over though the gap. He smiled a little.

"Thank you ! If you need to write back, well, you know where to go !"

"Yes. This is also where you're going back to now. Goodbye."

Beruka slammed the door shut and observed his departure through the keyhole, before promptly walking up the stairs, reaching the bedroom. Corrin was still sleeping peacefully, but alas, he had to get up. For all she knew, a carriage was well on its way to the house.

The blue-haired young woman crouched and quietly nudged her husband. It took him about two nudges to open up one eye.

"Gunter… we're surrounded by patty cakes… how will we fight our way through ?"

She did not react outwardly, but she did smiles. He seemed to be doing well ever since he sent that letter.

"Oh… Beruka, sorry. I was… having a dream."

"Worry not." Declared the assassin. "You may not engage in warfare with the pastry yet, however. The letter has been received. And answered."

"Oh ! Right ! The letter !" he said, getting up and nearly tossing the cover off him, though thankfully, he had some black pants below the armour. "Sorry ! I should've answered it !"

"Apology accepted."

"Did Sebastian hand it over ?"

"Yes."

"Was he paid ? I felt bad about not giving him the money. We… we're not nobles who lord over the others."

"The money is in his pocket. Or in a bandit's."

He sighed and cut the envelope, doing a partial transformation of his nail for that purpose. He then pulled the letter out and sat down, reading it. She proceeded to look over his shoulder. King Xander's handwriting was perfect, as always, and his reply was shorter than she excepted.

"Hm… gladly… we are family… one year anniversary…" said Corrin, out-loud. "O-oh, he accepted !"

"Were you afraid he would not ?"

"A little. He must be busy with his reign !"

"The siblings shall always make time for you. And beside, it has been nearly a year since the end of the war. Perhaps King Xander wanted to invite you to the castle."

He nodded and got up, stretching his arms and yawning.

"We should put up some "noble" clothes, right ?" he said. "Leo's going to have our heads if we're not dressed appropriately." Described Corrin, smiling.

Beruka raised one eyebrow and stepped aside. So far, the plan was working, going by Corrin's peaceful sleep and behaviour. This pleased her, though she did not hope yet, afraid that this was naught but a façade. Corrin was a poor liar by her standards, but he was quite good at picking up on things. And spending so much time with Beruka probably gave him some access to her unbeatable poker face.

"Yes." Agreed Beruka, aware of the etiquette excepting of nobles. She did belong to this category, something which bothered her, since she felt that she'd have an harder time going on missions in the future, unless she started wearing a mask. Beruka still kept away from the public eye, just in case.

Her fashion sensibilities were never really developed, mostly because she favoured functionality over appearance. She was, however, above simply grabbing whatever was at hand, and it took her a little time to actually pick up the correct ensemble. She then went to a different room. Yes, it was odd for her to walk into a different room when the couple went past a certain threshold long ago, but he was always reluctant to being seen without a shirt (or pants, of course).

The reason ? The reason was…

Was…

Beruka lost her train of thoughts and tilted her head. Corrin was wearing a black, long sleeved shirt, with a purple coat of a sort. Said coat had golden buttons, and a large black collar, in the shape of a triangle, large enough for the young man to rest the back of his head on it. His pants were not as extravagant, but he made it up wearing some fairly noticeable red shoes.

Beruka herself was not better. She wore white high-heels (which she found hard to move around with), a long purple dress with long sleeves and a black coat with fur on it, with her tiny head resting amongst said fur, practically glowering.

"Oh dear." Started Corrin.

"My love."

"Yes ?"

"Please, kill me." Said Beruka, in "jest". Corrin laughed in answer and approached, pulling on his collar.

"We can still change." Answered the prince, looking over at the closet.

"No. It is fine. I abhor such clothing but alas, I'll be able to hide my face." She said. Once more, she'd wear a mask if she could, but feared that this would led to a prompt unmasking from the siblings, and such disguise would attract more attention anyway.

"They're going to send a carriage. I mean, in the letter, he said that it'd be near the second appearance of the sun in the day."

"A few hours away. Then, allow me to take this off for the time left."

"You don't need me to allow it." He said. "I'm going to prepare the house and fetch Yato."

…

Beruka quickly changed, and touched her neck a little (the fur was pretty irritating after all) before stepping out of the room. Her husband didn't need to do much : he accessed a chest inside of their bedroom, and opened it, taking part of the money. That way, if a thief managed to get inside, they would not find themselves penniless.

Yes, they could just ask for money, but Corrin would see it as being a load to his family. He did not take all of it out of paranoia that he'd lose it, but didn't care much for any bandit attacks. They were rare around the region since the end of the war, and no amount of bandits could keep up with his speed and power anyway. Then, he locked the windows and some doors.

The last one, however, he stood in front of it for a moment before entering, with Beruka quietly sneaking up on him to observe. The room was mostly barren, being white and inhabited by only one pedestal, itself occupied by Yato. A year with little-to-no use did no wonders to the sword of legends, and it laid there, gathering dust, reduced to its earliest form once more.

She could even see cracks running over it, and for a moment or two, Corrin hesitated before advancing forward. His fists were trembling and his breathing was going quicker, but Beruka did not intervene yet, awaiting. He did briefly look at her, but she only got a bit closer, letting him do accomplish his task alone but making her presence clear so as to reassure him.

He turned around, inspired, leaned forward and grabbed the sword. And, in the span of one second, the couple was forced to shield their eyes away from a flash of purple light, though Corrin seemingly recovered quicker, quickly glancing down upon the sword of legends.

And it stood, complete, having recovered its form in an instant. The cracks from earlier were gone, and the Shadow Yato was proudly held by Corrin, to his amazement. He swung it at the air a few times and then sheathed it promptly, before running over to Beruka to grab her hands.

"Did you see that ? It's still working !"

"Indeed !" admitted Beruka, unable (and unwilling) to hide her joy for him. "You are worthy of the title. Like how you were back then. And like how you will always be."

It was confusing. She was glad, but also felt like punching herself in the face over her comment. She could just hope that Corrin would not repeat it to the other royals.

"I was always afraid of doing it because I spent so long trying to hide but… it's a good boost to my confidence before we leave for the castle, don't you think ?"

"I do." Said Beruka. "You're doing much better, Corrin. I'm glad."

She smiled, and he responded in kind, though they soon both stepped out of the room, confident and ready to take on the world outside ! The carriage could come anytime now, but the duo was ready !

Of course, though, the carriage was still good hours away, so the duo eventually slowly lowered their arms.

"What now ?" asked Corrin. Beruka shrugged.

…

The carriage was pretty large and boasted the usual Nohrian color scheme of "just black". Some gold lines ran over its surface though, and the curtains behind the window were red. The driver, whom she did not recognize, turned around to greet the duo and blinked briefly when he noticed their clothing.

She did change her clothes, but barely. The fur was just a bit lower, and covered less of her face as a result. The older man shrugged after a while though, and stepped off, before bowing.

"Greetings, Lord Corrin, Lady Beruka."

The "Lady" nearly winced, whereas Corrin waved back.

"Greetings to you ! Thank you for coming all this way for us !"

"Anything for those of your stature." Replied the man, politely. The blue-haired prince nodded and allowed his wife to enter, closing the door behind her. He made sure to lock everything beforehand, and had Beruka hide or take her weapons, "just in case".

The interior of the carriage was confortable, though Beruka did not care much for it, quickly pulling the curtains over the windows and then sitting next to Corrin.

"I wonder how the others are doing…"

"Well, I would presume. If anything were to happen, the people would be aware of it."

"You're right ! Hm... then, what about the retainers ?"

She thought of them. She did get to "bond" with a few of them, but they were still obnoxious strangers to her, with the exception of some like Niles or Arthur (to Corrin's surprise) and obviously Selena.

"They're of little importance."

"We did fight with them through… the conflict." He said, briefly spacing out.

"Indeed."

"But, well, I… I understand why you'd feel that way, they're quirky…"

"Peri is a mass murderer."

Even he groaned at the mention of Peri, and it was seemingly enough to get him to back off a little. He allowed the carriage to go on for a little while before attempting to resume the topic.

"I don't want you to be friends with them all. I know that you wouldn't like it if I tried to just have you befriend everyone."

"Thank you."

"But… maybe have a small talk with… Effie ?"

"That oaf ?"

He tilted his head and made a disapproving gesture. Beruka sighed.

"Apologies, I… could perhaps communicate with Lady Camilla or your siblings."

"Yeah ! They are your in-laws now ! I'm sure you'd like Leo !"

"Like ? My personal feelings regarding the prince are of little matter. I either like him or pretend to."

Corrin winced but promptly retaliated.

"Well, maybe at least Camilla or Xander ?"

"Certainly. I'll attempt to do so." Said Beruka. She didn't care too much about... all the others. It was mostly herself, Corrin (who stood head and shoulders above the rest in her world), Camilla, Selena and the rest didn't matter. Perhaps her friends were below Selena as well, but to be honest, she truly, honestly only ever cared about him. Though perhaps her spawn shall stand at a similar place.

"Great !" he said, yawning. "I'm going to try to nap a little, if you don't mind."

"Do so. I shall remain awake to be on the look-out however."

He nodded and dozed off on her fur-covered shoulder, needing only a short while to go back to his pastry warfare with Gunter.

For her part, Beruka pondered about her own dream. She was distracting herself with the castle visit but she knew that the image of her daughter, clad in the guise of an assassin, would soon come back to haunt her thoughts as soon as a lull set in.

Should she inform Corrin ? No, he had too much to deal with. Perhaps… perhaps this was a test. Beruka was going to solve her issues alone and deal with her fear herself.

She defeated armies of Hoshidian, she could deal with her own mind, right ?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact : Kana's uniform at the beginning is essentially Goku Black's. Fitting for a killer, I guess ? :p
> 
> Have fun and don't forget to leave reviews, they help !


	5. Of princesses and frights

The flowers stood, twisting and angling themselves to catch the sunlight. The absence of Beruka proved to be a dramatic development, but alas, they were able to catch some rain, allowing them to live on.

They stood, but at least one was slightly lower than the other, when they were both standing tall beforehand.

…

Beruka did not fall asleep or even attempt to take a nap herself. She had been trained to be able to stay awake for long after all, and was a bit paranoid about the carriage being attacked by marauders, though thankfully enough, there was an escort of cavaliers watching from afar, since the King knew of the danger of the roads.

However, the cavaliers were not needed. Whatever bandits roamed the land wisely decided that attacking the fancy carriage would result in their horrible demises, and the trip was quiet, aside from Corrin's light snoring and tendency to thoroughly describe what he was doing in his dream.

She wondered how to best interact with the siblings. With the exception of Camilla, Beruka's interactions with them resumed to shaking hands, accomplishing their orders in the middle of battle or accepting their congratulations. She didn't really know how to best interact with them, and in spite of her promise to Corrin, the young woman was not excepting to truly form a bond with the prince and king.

At best, perhaps, she'd politely listen to them and would say what she needed to say. Yes. She was doing well. The baby was well. So was Corrin, etc.

Elise was… agreeable, but not Beruka's style. She had limited patience for cheery people. More than she had before, but the two women were quite different from one another, and Elise lacked the necessary strength to truly catch Beruka's attention. The young girl's use of magic was fearsome, but the assassin respected physical strength more. She didn't judge a person's worth by the size of their muscles, but she could respect one with the power to change things.

Camilla would at least be easy to talk to, at least.

As for the other retainers, perhaps she could communicate with Niles or Arthur. The rest, she could tolerate, bar Peri, whom she hoped was going to be a solid ten kilometres away at all time.

She never had any consideration for the younger woman. They were both in the business of killing, perhaps, but Beruka was a professional, and stuck to killing her targets instead of engaging in random bloodbaths. She had no hesitation about killing, but she knew that no one in their right mind would hire a psychotic assassin out of fear that they'd betray them, and said psychotic assassin might end up hunted.

Beside, if someone wanted to kill everyone in a given place, they could just hurl an army at it.

Peri, however, was mentally ill and lacked the grace and precision of the assassin, merely slaying whoever was close to her. Her raw skills were prodigious, but she lacked in discipline, making her unfit for any task other than brutal warfare.

Beruka is an assassin. Peri is a crazed swordswoman.

Anyway, at the very least, even Corrin had little patience for her. She was not as gone as Hans but she was still very much what popped up in the mind of foreigners when they thought "Nohrian", and he very much wanted to avoid that. According to him though, Xander wished to redeem the knight to show that anyone could change, something that Corrin lauded, but he did confess to her that he felt worried about the murderer potentially accessing an important position within the army.

Wishing to distract herself from her thoughts, Beruka peered out of the window a little, and discovered that the carriage has been advancing quickly, and she could see the lights of Windmire's buildings. It'd still take a little while to reach the castle, but it would be unfortunate for Corrin to be waking up as they were descending. Thus, she chose to nudge him once again.

He grunted and woke up, yawning and stretching his legs and arms forward before turning to face her, rubbing one of his eyes.

"Beruka ? We're at the castle ?"

"Soon." She said. "Apologies, but I judged that it'd be best to awaken you right now, so that you may be fully ready."

"Good decision." He said, stretching once more and observing Windmire from the window.

The people seemed more content, and were much more numerous now. Back in the "old days", Windmire was a silent city, and walking down its streets meant that you were either an outlaw or eager to encounter one. The "True Nohr" stood underground, though she didn't visit it much, and neither did Corrin since he was always busy and away from the city.

However, King Xander's first act as the new ruler of Nohr was to cut down on the criminality. He offered the outlaws to join the army (though they'd need to develop bonds with their fellow soldiers and would be heavily punished if they deserted or attempted to satisfy their urges) or drove them out. Luckily enough, a lot of them decided to join the army, perhaps because they'd get a pardon and also to earn some pay and get an actual home.

The rest, who were more similar to the late Hans (and with crimes perhaps too heavy to be overlooked), refused and fled the city or were smoked out by their former colleagues, since the criminals lacked the manpower, training or arsenal to fend off the soldiers.

The rest of the world looked in disapproval at the event but Nohr justified the recruitment : Nohr's army was damaged during the war, and they wished to show that criminals could be redeemed.

Corrin approved, of course. Beruka was more suspicious, seeing it as handing over weapons and training to common thugs, but Windmire seemed much safer than it was before, though she could still visualize some beggars or thieves amongst the crowd. The population seemed healthier, which she could understand, since Nohr and Hoshido had a trade going on, meaning that Nohr now had more food.

Of course, though, not everything was going well. Nohr was still seen as a brutal country, with an army of former brigands and Hoshido saw the trade as a half-hearted attempt at saying "sorry" while taking their food away. While the country's problems with its food supply was fixed for now, they still brought death to several countries, and she knew that the next generations would be screaming for revenge.

A new war would break out, and…

Beruka shook her head. It would be best to think positive for now, before her encounter with the royal siblings. Her smiles will be naught but a façade, but perhaps having happier thoughts will provide some reinforcement to her masquerade.

"They seems so much happier !"

"Indeed." She said. "A year ago, this many people would've been impossible."

"Xander did some fantastic work !" he said. Beruka herself was surprised at this development, though another idea came to mind.

"Perhaps he could've kept in touch with us beforehand." Muttered Beruka.

"What do you mean ? Oh, letters ?"

"Affirmative."

"Well… maybe he was busy ?"

"Of course, but perhaps he could've assigned a servant to send you a letter."

"Well… you're right." He said. Beruka frowned. She knew that something was wrong, all along, but wherever she brought it up, Corrin demonstrated some sudden unease, and Beruka was not willing to press on at the time, since she knew that he was in a complicated state of mind.

Still, now that he was doing better, she definitely was going to have a conversation with him. If he was lying, then she was going to ask him why. If they truly did not send in any letters, then she'd interrogate the royals, and may be a bit less… respectful than she thought she was going to be.

"We'll ask them if you want." He said.

"Very well. Though I except you do to it." Answered his wife. Corrin offered a quick nod and looked out of the window.

"We're about to arrive." He said, pulling on his collar a little, trying not to look nervous. She quickly noticed it though.

"Are you nervous ?"

"A bit, yes."

Beruka observed him a little and leaned forward, holding her hands up. Recognizing what Beruka was trying to get him to do, Corrin slowly began breathing in while she waited. Because of his lung capacity, it took him some time, but she waited patiently. After enough time, he began to hold his breath.

The royal assassin held up three fingers on each hand, then waited a second and closed her fists before raising only two fingers on each. She waited another second and did the same, but raised only one finger this time. And after this went down, he exhaled slowly, through pursed lips.

As a young girl, she used this to calm herself whenever she was about to engage in a challenging scenario. She dropped this after acquiring experience with her job, but she used it to ease Corrin at times. It was related to her job, but she figured that he wouldn't mind. The gesture itself was inoffensive, after all. He did once more and then raised his thumb silently, while she smiled, slightly.

She'd miss those moments. Beruka was not big on being affective in public, so they'd need to be in their room to do so.

The carriage stopped in front of the castle's entrance, which has a decent amount of soldiers gathered around. Beruka was the first to step out, accompanied by Corrin, who closed the door behind him and walked over to the driver to hand him some more gold. She then quietly grabbed his arm and walked side-by-side with him, under the soldiers's watchful gaze, and the civilian's confused ones.

The palace's layout was confusing, to be honest, and was as sinister as ever. However, she had to admit that it was much more well-lit, and some of the less subtle elements, such as the cages on the ceiling or spikes were removed. Corrin looked around nervously as they walked up the stairs.

After all, while it was there that he "celebrated", it was also there that he delivered the mission results and received new ones. Perhaps he was excepting to turn around and stumble upon the tall figure of Iago, who'd ask him what he was doing here in his usual grating voice. Or worse, maybe he'd open the throne room's gate and discover Garon on his throne, watching his "son" with his empty yet hateful gaze.

"SURPRISE !"

Fortunately for them, neither happened : Instead, a blonde girl leapt out of the corner, holding her arms out with a "fearsome" expression on her face, letting out a dreadful hiss at the couple.

Between the victory and now, the youngest princess decided to abandon her bizarre hair decorations, keeping her hair loose from now. Some part of it was still dyed purple though, and she had to get rid of part of it, since they were so long to begin with. Otherwise, her outfit wasn't too different, and neither was her attitude : she promptly approached Corrin and hugged him immediately !

Beruka quietly muttered under her breath while Corrin laughed.

"Elise ! Haha ! You surprised me !" he said, as she let go and winked, smirking and holding up her thumb. "I've been preparing this for months, how was it !"

"Very fearsome !" said her husband, putting his hand on his chest.

His wife was distinctively less impressed, but knew that it would be rude to dismiss the young girl. She nodded instead.

"You would make a fine spy." She lied. Elise giggled and stepped aside, putting her hands behind her back.

"Leo and Xander are about to finish their meeting but I just couldn't wait ! It's been soooo long ! How are you doing ?! Hoo, how's the baby ?! You've found a name ! It's Shadow Yato ! Whoah !"

Corrin nodded quietly, smile ever present. Beruka simply quietly tolerated the onslaught, having steeled herself for it.

"I'm doing alright, though as said in the letters…"

"Right ! Well, don't you worry, we'll help you !" said Elise, joining them !

"The baby's name has yet to be discussed." Answered Beruka, avoiding some gawking servants. "It seems that Corrin desires to name them… Kana."

"It's a pretty nice name, you don't think ?"

"Hm." She agreed, not caring much about the name. She wasn't that imaginative.

"Soo, when are you going to huh…"

"I shall give birth in a few months." Replied the assassin. She repeated that to herself in her thoughts, being, perhaps, more surprised at this statement than Elise herself. Fortunately, her surprise was well hidden away beneath her usual frown.

"As for Shadow Yato, well… I can't really just leave it behind !"

"Haha, yeah, that'd be silly !"

"Yeah, I'm not that airheaded !"

While the duo was conversing, Beruka focused ahead, noticing that they were getting close to the throne room, going by the increased amount of soldiers. Most of them saluted upon noticing the royals but a few, who were heading the opposite way, were rushing forth and looking back. The male soldiers having their attention focused elsewhere and the sound of footsteps echoing through the hall was enough warning for Beruka, who raised her arm to stop the two "siblings" mid-walk.

"Is something wrong ?" questioned Corrin, though soon, a figure stepped into view.

"Awww, and here I was planning to surprise you like Elise."

"Sis !"

Camilla was not too different from when both women parted ways. The tall woman (who was still easily one head taller than Corrin, who himself towered over his wife noticeably) wore her usual armour, though it was slightly more ornate this time. It certainly had larger shoulder-pads, and more… defence around the chest area (though there was still just enough cleavage to attract the attention of a few hapless individuals).

There was a torn little scarf around her neck, and the woman's shoes were flat this time, meaning that she could more easily battle on foot. The lack of exposed skin made it, overall, much safer than her old one.

For once, her attire was more sensible than Beruka's civilian outfit. Selena would've perhaps been very amused at the situation had she been here.

"Your big sister is here !" said Camilla, stretching her hands out and embracing the three at once, keeping them in her grip for a while before letting go. Corrin and Elise laughed, but Beruka briefly looked traumatized, though she soon regained her composure.

"Don't be so surprised, Beruka ! You're part of the family after all." Addressed Camilla.

"In… deed…" answered the assassin. She did not really appreciate the hugging, but the princess moved on to the next subject !

"Corrin ! You look… oh."

Camilla's eyes opened and she laid her eyes on the couple, only now noticing their clothes.

"Oh my…"

"Errr, we..."

He looked at Beruka.

"Were caught flat-footed and we put on those clothes as quickly as possible !"

"Liar liar !" yelled Elise, and Beruka's eye twitched, fearing that other soldiers, or worse, retainers would be attracted by the commotion. She feared that Effie would burst through the wall to check on all the talking, feared that Niles would turn up and proceed to quietly remember the scene for all of eternity, feared that some non-retainers, such as Charlotte, would arrive and engage in her passive-aggressive warfare, perhaps the one kind of warfare that Beruka was uninterested one.

She did not know if it was "shyness" or pride, but she truly did not want for anyone else to reach the scene. Corrin seemed to become aware of it, but Elise remained unaware.

"You should've left the lying to Beruka, dear !" answered Camilla, though she quickly approached the duo and pushed them along. "Come now, you should change clothes !"

"W-wait, what about Xander and Leo ?!"

"You know how long their meetings go. Whenever they go in that room, a minute may be an hour to those two ! Come now."

Beruka hurried along, nearly dragging her husband along. Elise provided her and Camilla with assistance, successfully leading them to a room and closing the door behind them, leaving the couple temporarily stranded.

Said room was, thankfully, empty (except for them) and had some lockers, filled with clothes. Beruka could see ones that, while they were not what she truly wanted (namely, armor), proved to be much more adept to whatever tastes she had.

The blue-haired woman sighed and put her fingers on her temples, massaging them while Corrin turned to her in a panic.

"I'm so sorry Beruka ! I… I forgot how…"

"It's… good." She said. She, too, forgot just how quirky the Nohrian princess was, though at the very least, she wasn't acting offended over the couple's being together.

"Still, we should… well, if you want, we can go back…"

"It would be quite rude." She said. "We shall survive. Be firm with Camilla over her potential distractions however. I shall assist you in that endeavor."

He nodded and turned around, so did she.

She was thinking of Camilla, too. While the princess was as energetic as ever, she seemed to have been doing some work. Was that the reason of her lack of visits on Corrin, perhaps ? Had the princess been travelling around the country, in service of Nohr ?

Admittedly, she dared to admit a little curiosity in the recent exploits of her former employer.

…

Corrin defaulted to something practical, wearing a black shirt and a high-collar (though it was much smaller than its predecessor), blue coat, with black pants and shoes. There was a sheath for Yato as well, but otherwise, he was just wearing something practical.

Beruka still had some fur on her purple coat, but it was much more practical, and her current attire was much less extravagant than the others, being similar to Corrin's. After he was done, they both stepped out of the room, though he bothered to put the clothes back in their closet.

Ever-patient, Elise stood outside, clapping her hands as soon as they came out. No sign of Camilla yet, perhaps she was changing too.

"Whoah, it took you no time at all !" she said.

"Thanks !" he said. "So ! How have you been doing the whole year ? You've been asking me a lot of questions while answering none !"

"Oh ! Well, I've been trying to learn." She said. "How to be a better princess and all ! It's a little boring though !"

"Come on now, surely, you've been doing something else !"

"Well, sometimes, I follow Arthur in his missions, and I try to help him with them ! There are plenty of people in trouble even now, and sometimes, their problems are more complex than just bandits ! But it's good ! Xander told me to be careful, but said that it's a good opportunity to get closer to the people of Nohr !"

"Ah, Arthur ! How is he doing ? Still accomplishing good deeds, I see !"

"Yep ! He's a bit off duty now though."

"What would… ohh, is he…"

"Yeap ! He's a father now ! Teehee !"

"Fantastic ! My sincerest congratulations to him !"

"I helped with it too ! It's…"

"How was it ?" asked Beruka, to the surprise of Elise. The "former" assassin had elected to stay in the background for now, but found herself suddenly interested when the subject of birthing came up.

The blonde was quick to react, but seemed a little surprised at Beruka actively engaging a dialogue instead of being prompted to answer a question.

"It was a bit… yuckie !"

"… Yuckie." Repeated Beruka, tilting her head. The word came off as irritating to her.

"Oh, no, not yuckie. I mean, it was pretty painful for Effie ! And, well, that's Effie ! Remember ? She charged through a stone wall once !"

If Effie herself (whom, for Beruka's perception of her as a dim-wit, was certainly blessed with extraordinary strength and durability) found it difficult, then… Beruka felt Corrin's hand on her shoulder, but she merely nodded sagely.

"But you know, the end was worth it. I remember the way she held Percy… she was so soft. And Arthur was happy ! Happier than he's ever been before ! I know that I'm not being very reassuring but in the end, it'll be the happiest moments in your lives once its said and done !"

Corrin breathed in relief, while Beruka considered her words. Yes, the pain seemed to be quite overwhelming… but she suffered worse, and emerged all the stronger for it. It was but weakness leading her body, said her former master.

Beruka looked down, deep in thoughts, but was pulled away from her thoughts when she felt something setting upon her shoulder, turning around to face Camilla, back from her own little dressing room.

"I'm so proud of you about that, my little sister !" said Camilla. "Seeing you become a woman warms my heart."

"I'm still a few years away from that !" quipped Elise.

Camilla was wearing a black dress, marked with some white lines. Part of it was see through, revealing that she was wearing a black, sleeveless, short outfit beneath it. To her credit, it was still less revealing than before, though it didn't stop Corrin from looking away, perhaps out of embarrassment.

While she would've pointed that out a year ago, Camilla didn't bother with teasing him and turned towards Beruka, though thankfully, the group set off for the throne room.

"What were you doing prior to the gathering, Lady Camilla ?"

"You shouldn't fall back on old habits. You're my sister-in-law, Beruka." Retorted Camilla. "I'll tell you everything though. There is a lot for us to discuss !"

The purple-haired woman smiled, and Beruka instantly recognized her facial expression. It was a disarming smile, meant to lure the target into a simple-sounding yet actually complicated conversation. The wyvern rider never fell for it, but Selena did, a few times, and over the course of her service, she saw countless men fall for it, only realizing their mistakes when it was too late.

Camilla was not hoping to fool her though. Rather, the younger woman interpreted it as a hidden message of some sort : "This is going to be a long conversation, so prepare yourself."

Upon arriving in front of the throne room, Beruka could see that it looked a little less obviously evil, with the changes performed to the room being quite drastic. There were more lights, mostly, but the room's more over-the-top elements were removed for the most part. The door still looked quite fearful, but the leader behind it was of much sounder mind than Garon, or so announced the room.

"How exciting. We're going to be reunited after a year !"

"Your enthusiasm is contagious, my dear Elise ! What about you, Corrin !"

"I'm eager to catch up with my siblings, of course ! It's going to be interesting to see where fate has led us !"

"Fate ? Interesting topic to bring up. And what about you, Beruka ?"

"… I am looking forward to this." She answered, staying calm even as the doors leading to the throne room opened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N : Next chapter : King Xander and Leo, some more characters popping up, and more Beruka getting weirded out !
> 
> Also, a little detail on the Post-Conquest world : When the people of Nohr talk about Garon in life, they just say "King Garon". When talking about the sort-of-golem, though, they just say "Garon", "Monster", "Slime", amongst others.
> 
> The complicated matter is knowing when, exactly, the former became the latter ! And folks from other countries are quite eager to put the man and the beast in the same category.
> 
> Don't forget to review if you wish ! Any critic is appreciated !


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